


Halloween Spirit, or Lack There Of

by veiledndarkness



Category: The Departed
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-10-27
Updated: 2008-10-27
Packaged: 2017-10-30 06:43:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/328902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veiledndarkness/pseuds/veiledndarkness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sean doesn't do Halloween.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Halloween Spirit, or Lack There Of

Title: Halloween Spirit, or Lack There Of

Author: [](http://veiledndarkness.livejournal.com/profile)[**veiledndarkness**](http://veiledndarkness.livejournal.com/)

Fandom: The Departed

Pairing: Implied Dignam/Costigan

Word count: 1990

Rating: PG-13 for language

Summary: Sean doesn’t do Halloween.

*AU from the ending of the movie*

Disclaimer: Not mine, no profit made, no harm intended.

For the Spook Me Multi-Fandom Halloween Ficathon 2008

XX

"You're shitting me, right?" Sean poked the printed sheet with the tip of his pen as if the paper could possibly come to life and chomp his fingers.

Billy nodded, shifting the bundle of file folders under his arm. "I just got the email, I figured I'd give it to you now, maybe buy you some time, right? This way you aren't caught off guard."

"You actually think I'm gonna go?" He snorted and shoved the offending paper off to the side. "No fucking way. I haven't gone since the one year that Queenan made me go, I sure as shit ain't going this year."

"Well, the thing is, here, read this part," Billy pushed the sheet back to the middle of the desk. "It says we're expected to go. Look, I know it's kinda stupid, but it can’t be that bad."

"No problem, I'll call in sick, come down with a case of Idon'tgiveafuck," Sean muttered.

Billy bit back a grin. "Yeah, Ellerby warned me you'd say that, so he made sure to mention that attendance is mandatory this year, and calling in sick wouldn't cut it. So...I guess this means you're gonna need a costume."

"Look kid, I know you're young an' all that shit, but I ain't going, I don't 'do' costumes and I sure as hell don't want to spend the better part of my evening watching Ellerby feel up his receptionist incognito, got it?"

"Younger..." Billy rolled his eyes. "Ten years at the most. C'mon, didn't you ever dress up before?"

Sean sat back in his chair, shaking his head. "Yeah, when I was a kid, now? Not fucking likely. Run along, I got paperwork up to my ears," he crumpled the paper into a ball and tossed it in the direction of his garbage can. "Go on, get the fuck outta here."

"I need the other files for faxing, and the list of candidates for the new undercover positions," Billy leaned against the desk. "If you'd stop being so fucking pigheaded, you'd be more organized. I'm your assistant, just deal with it, alright?"

Sean leveled a glare at him. "Go assist with me with more coffee then, wiseass."

Billy grunted and dropped the file folders on the corner of Sean's desk. "Fucker," he muttered as he walked out of the office and down the hallway to where the staff room was.

Sean snorted again and resumed reading the file he was working on. "Fuckin' Halloween parties..."

XX

"I said no, can I make it anymore clear to you? No means fucking no," Sean's nerves were frazzled and his eyes gleamed in a way that made Billy take a protective step back.

Billy breathed in, trying again. "It doesn't have to be complicated, I mean, shit, how hard can it be to find a costume?"

"Are you deaf? I said no!" Sean snapped. He gripped his pen until the plastic creaked. "Drop it, Costigan, or so help me, I swear I'll..."

"Well you could always go as a tightly wound cop on the verge of a nervous breakdown...oh wait, we're supposed to dress up, dang...there goes that idea," Billy drawled.

Sean made an inarticulate sound of rage and slapped his hand down on the paperwork. "Out, get out!"

"What about something evil? Like a zombie or an evil tooth fairy?"

Sean simply stared at him for a moment, at a loss for words. "Evil tooth fairy?" he echoed. "Are you out of your ever loving mind?"

"Is that a no? Think about it, wings, pliers, you can be the stuff that little kids are terrified of," Billy grinned, dodging the pen when it was whipped in his direction.

Sean rubbed his thumbs along his temples. "Costigan, you have five seconds to get the hell out of here. I don't have time for this shit."

"Sure you do, look, I'm going browsing for a costume later, I could pick somethin' for you," he offered with a crooked smirk.

"Fat fucking chance of that," Sean grumbled. "I'm not goin', stop asking or I will have you fucking _removed_. Now, get out!"

XX

It seemed, to Sean's increasingly annoyed state of mind, that Billy was determined to drive him completely insane. He pushed the folder he'd been working on off to the side and checked his email, his knee bouncing slightly. He could feel the fuzzy edges of a migraine settling in. Sean sighed and rubbed a tired hand over his eyes.

He peered at the screen, his eyes narrowing when he saw the email from Billy. Sean sat back in his chair for a long moment, debating the merits of opening the email. He sighed again in disgust and clicked on it.

**Found some costumes that might be right up your alley**

Sean felt the fleeting urge to bash his head against the keyboard and decided against it at the last second.

**Don't make that face. This isn't gonna go away just cause you don't like it.**

"Fuckin' punk," Sean huffed. He scrolled down the email, his lip curling in disgust.

**Worst case scenario, you could go as an asshole, again though, no costume required, so that's a no go.**

A snort of amused laughter escaped Sean. He smothered it with his hand and read through the rest of the email. Billy had thoughtfully included several different pictures from Halloween websites, ideas for Sean to consider.

He growled and deleted the email.

XX

"Pots and pans robot..."

Sean kept his eyes on the shelf, the restraints on his temper fast sliding. He moved to the next one before standing upright, his hands balled up on his hips. "Where the fuck is the box of slides?!" he demanded.

"Right where I put them, yeah, they were organized; yeah they're ready to go. So pots and pans robot is a no go," Billy hummed as he considered the possibilities, "What about....Cyborg?"

"What about staplin' your lips together?"

"Mm, no, I don't wanna imagine that," Billy pointed to the shelf. "For fuck's sake, Sean, it's right in front of you."

Sean looked to the shelf and yanked said box of slides off. "Costigan, I know what your game is, ok? And it isn't gonna work. So just....stop."

"What game? I'm just tryin' to help you out here."

"No, you're trying to drive me completely bugshit insane so I'll cave an' go to the stupidest thing I ever heard of. I may be dragged to this fucking thing, but I will not wear a costume!"

Billy pursed his lips, mildly annoyed. "You're sucha drama queen. What's the point of going if you aren't even gonna bother with a costume?"

"I don't wanna go in the first place, that's the point."

"Well you have to, so suck it up an' quit bitchin'. Just go pick something simple. Hey, you could even throw on a suit; call yourself a FBI worker and that'd be that."

Sean gritted his teeth and sat down with the box of slides. "No costume, end of story."

"How hard is it to put on a goofy hat or wig?"

"Very hard," Sean drawled. "I don't 'do' costumes, I don't do parties. Christ, can't they get that?"

"It's s'posed to be in good fun," Billy slid off the desk and flipped open the discarded folder beside Sean. "All I'm sayin' is that you need to fucking relax and go pick somethin' to wear."

"I am relaxed!"

Billy rolled his eyes. "Uh huh, the very picture of calm and collected, that you are."

"Costigan..."

Billy shook his head. "How'd Queenan ever get you to go that one time?"

Sean paused, a slide in his hand and a glimpse of grief in his eyes for a fleeting moment. "He asked, I said no. He kind of forced the issue and I was still young an' green enough to agree." He put the slide down with a sigh. "Alright...fuckin' bullshit, alright, I'll go."

Billy resisted the urge to pump his fist in victory. "Swear it?"

"I said I'd go, so go gloat somewhere else."

XX

Sean fussed with the tips of his hair, the flyaway strands refusing to stay in place. "Damn it," he muttered. He pushed the errant strands back behind his ears, swearing fluidly when they slipped back again.

He glared at his reflection in the mirror. He could hardly believe that he was even entertaining the idea of going to the office party. Sean pushed at his hair, attempting to smooth it down. With a growl, he grabbed a knit hat from the hallway closet and tugged it on, covering his hair completely.

He eyed his reflection once more, disturbed by the image. He turned away and stalked over to the doorway, tucking his wallet, badge and i.d into his pocket.

XX

The party was in full swing by the time Sean arrived. There was a tense moment or two with the security guard, who hadn't recognized him, something that had amused him on more than one level, but he'd passed through with only a minimum of complaint.

Sean surveyed the scene before him, his arms crossed over his old leather coat. It was just as he remembered, his co-workers in costume, a few cheesy decorations, an open bar...He sighed and crossed the room, ordering a beer from the vampire behind the counter.

Three quarters of the way through his second beer, Sean leaned back against the counter, watching Ellerby drunkenly slur his way through a story, his cheeks heavily flushed. Sean rolled his eyes and scanned the room, the blurs of colors and noise irritating him.

He slid away from the counter and edged closer to the doorway. He grunted when he was elbowed in the side, stumbling back a step or two. "Watch it!"

"Wow...Look at that, you actually dressed up, uh well, dressed down, I guess is the phrase."

Sean looked back at the owner of the offending elbow, his eyes widening. "Jesus fucking..."

Billy flashed a bright grin. "Make one smartass comment about my fire hose and I'll tie you to a pole," he tipped his firefighter's hat with two fingers.

"I can not fucking believe my eyes," Sean stared at him, at a loss for words.

"It's Halloween, gettin' creative is all a part of it. And you are...god; you look quite the part of being undercover, don't you?"

Sean shot him a glare. "Dressing like a thug is a costume. You're lucky I did this at all."

Billy snorted and pointed outside. "Go on, you look ready to burst or bust teeth or some shit like that."

"I'll bust your teeth," he muttered as he walked outside. "Wiseass..."

XX

"So, what made you decide on the vigilante thug look? I swear you really do look like one of Costello's guys."

"Terrific," Sean stood at Billy's side, watching him smoke a cigarette. "You pushed the issue, so I did it. Easiest costume I could think of that didn't involve masks or capes n' shit."

Billy quirked a smile at him, "It's not so bad y' know. You oughta lighten up every so often."

Sean nodded. "Uh huh, this is me lightened up. Don't go expectin' nothing fancy from me, Costigan."

"Billy."

"What?" Sean looked back at him, a muscle in his cheek jumping.

"I've been your assistant for six months now. After all the shit I did for your department, the least you can do is call me by my first name," Billy nodded to him and flicked his cigarette.

"Fine," Sean tightened his lips. "Billy..."

"Such effort, I applaud you," Billy smirked and stomped the last of his cigarette under his boots. He leaned in, blowing the smoke away with a quick puff, "Hey, Sean."

Sean glanced at him again. "Yeah?"

"Happy Halloween, huh," Billy leaned in closer, stealing a kiss from him, indulging in the moment of surprise written on Sean's face and the feeling of the kiss being returned tentatively.

XX


End file.
